My great-grandfather Thomas Bernard Bickerstaff and his sister Agnes emigrated from England to the U.S. Their story is an interesting one, with several mysteries: who was their father? How did they keep in touch with family members when they were raised in the poorhouse? And whose probate hearing did Agnes attend in the early 1900's? Will these mysteries ever be solved? [Ongoing genealogy research on this family...]

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Thomas Bickerstaff's Bakery in Nantucket, Massachusetts

Copy of an article from "The Solicitor", Nantucket, Massachusetts, circa 1908. Includes a photo of Richard Bickerstaff [my grandfather], son of Thomas, standing next to the bakery's horse-drawn delivery carriage.

According to the article, this was the oldest bakery in Massachusetts [at the time], being 60 years old. It was built in 1848 by Charles Newcook, and had 2 proprietors before Thomas Bickerstaff., who had worked for both the previous owners. Daily delivery trips were made to the summer cottages, as "city folks" flocked to "the cool shores" of Nantucket every summer. Nantucket had only 1 railroad, and cars had been recently forbidden on the island, thus the horse-drawn carriage.